Night Raid on Branch Hall, Han Su Forced to Confess with Face Pressed Down

When the light carriage charged into Suotuo City, the lamps at the city gates were already fully lit.

The wind poured in from the street corner, whipping the carriage curtains until they snapped and rattled.

Xiao Wu held the little girl in her arms, her entire body still nestled in the lingering warmth left by Su Chen's embrace, the heat on her face refusing to fade. She had intended to pretend nothing was wrong, but the moment the carriage stopped and the sound of footsteps from the Legal Department and the Branch Hall guards rang out outside, her chaotic thoughts were immediately suppressed.

Tonight was not for returning to sleep.

It was for returning to raid a house.

Shen Zhi vaulted off his horse and raised a hand.

"Seal the street."

"Without my warrant, not even a fly is to fly out of the Branch Hall tonight."

"Yes!"

At the order, the men from the Legal Department immediately fanned out.

The sound of Iron Armor clashing spread through the night; the doors and windows of shops on both sides of the street were quickly bolted shut, and the few taverns that had still flickered with light fell completely silent.

Anyone could tell.

Something major was going to happen tonight.

Su Chen first handed the boy in his arms to a healing-type Deacon, then took the little girl from Xiao Wu. The little girl had been clutching Xiao Wu's sleeve with a death grip, but the moment she met Su Chen's eyes—cold and heavy, yet devoid of any malice—she actually quieted down.

Su Chen handed her to a female Deacon, his voice low.

"Take her to the back hall. Treat her wounds first, then give her warm water."

"Don't let anyone near her."

"Understood."

With her arms suddenly empty, Xiao Wu felt a bit uneasy.

Especially when Su Chen turned his head to look at her.

His gaze was faint, as if checking to see if she could still hold up.

She immediately straightened her back.

"What are you looking at? I'm fine."

Su Chen gave a hum.

"Then don't let your legs go soft later."

Xiao Wu exploded on the spot.

"Su Chen!"

Just as her voice rose, Xu Tinglan turned her face away, acting as if she hadn't heard. Shen Zhi was even more direct, lowering his head to adjust his cuffs, pretending to be very busy.

Xiao Wu's earlobes burned again.

This bastard was definitely doing it on purpose.

Yet, she couldn't even refute him.

Between the fierce fighting back at the Desolate Ditch and being carried by him the entire way back, her thighs were still aching, and her breathing hadn't fully steadied.

But she would never admit it out loud.

"You just worry about yourself."

"If that old thing Han Su dares to let out a peep tonight, I'll be the first to kick his teeth in."

Su Chen glanced at her, the corners of his mouth tugging upward slightly.

"Fine."

"I'll leave one for you."

Xiao Wu had been bottling up her anger, but at those words, she choked.

She was finding herself increasingly annoyed by his attitude.

He never said anything serious, yet every sentence followed the grain of her temper, making it impossible for her to even get a good burst of anger out.

Ahead, the silhouette of the Suotuo Branch Hall emerged in the night.

High walls, black tiles, and the two stone beasts in front of the gate were half-illuminated by the lamps.

Usually, this place held a certain air of majesty.

Tonight, however, it looked like a face waiting to be torn open.

Just as Shen Zhi reached the steps, a squad of guards rushed out from within.

Leading them was one of the Branch Hall's deputy stewards, surnamed Luo, who usually followed at Han Su's heels and was most skilled at trimming his sails to the wind.

The moment he rushed out, he saw Su Chen, then Shen Zhi, and his legs went weak.

"Lord Shen, Holy Son, this—is there some kind of misunderstanding—"

The word "misunderstanding" had barely left his lips.

Smack!

A copy of the transfer registry was flung directly into his face.

The pages scattered, fluttering to the ground in a mess.

Shen Zhi's gaze was icy.

"Pick it up and read it yourself."

"Then tell me again if this is a misunderstanding, or if your branch hall has simply become too accustomed to selling people like livestock."

Steward Luo's face turned deathly pale in an instant.

He knelt down quickly, his knees slamming against the bluestone steps, his voice trembling.

"My lord, I didn't know, I truly didn't know—"

Su Chen stepped onto the stairs at that moment.

His black robes swept across the ground.

He didn't spare a glance at the man on the floor, looking only toward the lights still burning deep within the branch hall.

"Is Han Su inside?"

Steward Luo's forehead was drenched in sweat.

"Yes, he is in the back hall discussing matters—"

"Very well."

Su Chen lifted his foot and continued walking inside.

"That saves me the trouble of having to hunt him down."

The Legal Department and the Temple Knights filed in one after another.

The Deacons, who were usually so arrogant and overbearing within the branch hall, were now in a complete panic; some tried to bolt for the side doors, only to be pinned against the pillars the moment they turned, while others tried to hide account books, only to be kicked to the ground before they could even close the cabinet doors.

Tonight, the branch hall was in total chaos.

Xiao Wu had originally intended to charge to the front, but after taking two steps, her wrist was caught in Su Chen's reverse grip.

She froze, turning to glare at him.

"What are you doing?"

"Stay with me."

Su Chen didn't let go, pulling her firmly to his side.

"There might be hidden doors and traps inside; don't go running off."

Xiao Wu had intended to snap back with a retort about when she ever ran off, but the warmth of his palm against her wrist bone, light yet incredibly steady, stopped her.

Her breath hitched, and the rest of her sentence died in her throat.

She could only remain stubborn.

"It's not like I'm scared."

"I know."

Su Chen continued walking forward.

"I just don't want you to be a nuisance."

Xiao Wu wanted to kick him in frustration, but she couldn't bring herself to pull her hand away.

In the end, she could only let him lead her.

Xu Tinglan walked on the other side, reciting the locations of the various storehouses and accounting rooms with rapid precision.

"The second room on the left is the accounting room, the end of the hall on the right is the seal room, and there is a hidden door in the back hall that leads to the inner treasury."

"Han Su usually meets outside guests in the Bright Hall, but he handles the real goods and people in the back."

"If he intends to destroy the ledgers, he will be heading for the inner treasury right now."

"Then we head to the back."

As soon as Su Chen finished speaking, he turned directly into the corridor.

Just as they rounded a moon gate, a chaotic sound of footsteps erupted from within.

"Quick! Burn that ledger!"

"And the registry too!"

"The lord said that no one is to be left alive tonight!"

Shen Zhi's eyes sharpened.

"Take them down!"

The two sides collided instantly.

Scabbards slammed into flesh, tables and chairs were overturned, and paper and shattered porcelain flew wildly across the floor.

Xiao Wu finally caught her chance this time.

She twisted her wrist, slipped out of Su Chen's palm, and dove into the crowd like a pink blur, lifting her leg in a sweeping kick that sent a Deacon trying to light a fire tumbling, his tinderbox flying from his hand to smash against the wall.

"Want to burn things?"

"I'll burn some sense into you first!"

Her movements were fast, but her temper was faster.

Having just floored one man, she grabbed another by the collar, executed a clean shoulder throw, and with a loud thud, slammed him and the ledger together under a table.

Shen Zhi's eyelids twitched as he watched.

This girl really wasn't delicate at all when she fought.

Su Chen was even more direct.

The moment the Judgment Holy Sword appeared, the yin energy throughout the back hall corridor dissipated by a significant margin.

A black-clad guard attempting to escape through a secret door had just reached the threshold when the golden light descended diagonally, cleaving the entire door in two.

Wood splinters exploded outward.

The man froze in place, not daring to take another step.

Su Chen walked over and kicked him behind the knee.

"Kneel."

With a dull crack, the man's knees slammed heavily into the ground; he was in so much pain that tears welled up, yet he didn't even dare to scream aloud.

Because behind the secret door, Han Su had already appeared.

He was still wearing the gray-gold robe that symbolized his status as the Branch Hall's Vice Hall Master.

However, the hem of his robe was disheveled, and there was an uncleaned bloodstain on his chest; it was clear that ever since the news came back from the Desolate Ditch line, he hadn't truly calmed down.

As soon as he emerged, he saw the wreckage covering the floor, then his subordinate pinned to the ground, and his expression darkened inch by inch.

Finally, his gaze settled on Su Chen.

"Holy Son."

"Isn't it a bit excessive for you to bring people to surround my branch hall in the middle of the night?"

Su Chen looked at him.

"Branch hall?"

"You still know this is a branch hall of the Martial Soul Hall, and not the backyard of your Han family?"

Han Su's eyes grew gloomier.

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"You don't know?"

Xu Tinglan had already tossed the original transfer registry at his feet.

"Then see for yourself."

"The carriages intercepted tonight, the forged documents, the empty quotas, and the External Transfer Registry on the back pages."

"Han Su, how much longer do you intend to keep up this act?"

Han Su glanced down at the booklet.

With just that one look, the last shred of hope in his eyes vanished.

He knew he couldn't hide it anymore.

But having reached this point, he became even more ruthless.

"Even if these exist, what can they prove?"

"The transfers at the Suotuo Branch Hall are complex; it is inevitable that some people would use names to act on their own."

"At most, it counts as lax management on my part."

"Lax management?"

Xiao Wu had just pinned a struggling Deacon into the floor, and upon hearing this, she laughed in pure anger.

She stood up, kicked the man aside, and walked up to Han Su.

"You really are shameless."

"The children are already loaded onto the carriages, and you're still here playing word games with us?"

"Do I have to tie you to a carriage and drag you around for a lap before you're willing to admit it?"

Han Su's face turned livid, and just as he was about to bark an order, a slap landed.

Smack!

It was incredibly crisp.

Xiao Wu had delivered it.

The force of that slap was not light; it sent Han Su's face twisting to the side.

The back hall fell into absolute silence.

Even the men from the Legal Department were stunned.

Shen Zhi had not expected that Xiao Wu would actually dare to strike him like that.

Xiao Wu shook out her wrist, her eyes icy cold.

"Weren't you quite eloquent just a moment ago?"

"Keep talking."

Han Su clutched his face, his entire body stiffening.

He probably never imagined in his entire life that he would one day be slapped in public by a little girl.

The humiliation was far heavier than the pain.

A surge of viciousness flared in the depths of his eyes, and he raised his hand, ready to mobilize his soul power.

But the moment he moved, the Judgment Holy Sword was already pressed against his throat.

One inch.

It was truly only one inch away.

The golden blade reflected in his pupils, illuminating even the hidden malice he tried to conceal.

Su Chen stood before him, his voice calm to the point of freezing.

"Move one more time, and I will nail your head to this pillar."

A chill instantly crawled up Han Su's spine.

It was no threat.

He could tell that Su Chen was truly capable of doing it.

Ever since this Martial Soul Hall Holy Son arrived in Suotuo City, he had not played by any conventional rules.

Zhou Ling could not suppress him.

Lu Qingci could not block him.

Even he, a Vice Hall Master at the Soul King realm, felt like a snake with its vital point pinned down in Su Chen's hands.

To remain stubborn now would only lead to a uglier death.

Han Su's Adam's apple bobbed.

Finally, he lowered his head.

"It was my oversight."

Xiao Wu wanted to slap him again on the spot.

"Oversight your—"

"No rush."

Su Chen raised a hand to stop her, though his gaze never shifted from Han Su's face.

"Don't you like playing by the rules?"

"Then tonight, we shall proceed according to the rules of Martial Soul Hall."

"Shen Zhi, record this."

Shen Zhi immediately raised his hand, and the men from the Legal Department opened their ledgers.

Su Chen spoke, enunciating every word clearly.

"Han Su, Vice Hall Master of the Suotuo Branch Hall: unauthorized external transfers, forging identity documents, misappropriating branch quotas, colluding with the Black Market, and involvement in the abduction of children—the evidence is conclusive."

"Effective tonight, you are suspended."

"Seal the treasury."

"Take him into custody."

Han Su jerked his head up.

"By what authority—"

"By this."

Su Chen flipped his wrist, pressing the secondary Pope Token directly before his eyes.

"Is that not enough?"

Han Su was rendered completely speechless.

Once the secondary token appeared, this matter was no longer a private scandal of the Suotuo Branch Hall.

It was now being handled directly by the upper echelons of Martial Soul Hall.

He was finished.

Shen Zhi strode forward and personally produced the Soul-Locking Shackles.

Xu Tinglan stood to one side, her voice very soft.

"Han Su."

"You have entrenched yourself in Suotuo City for so many years, thinking no one dared to touch you."

"But you forgot, if you reach your hand out too far, it will eventually be chopped off."

Han Su stared at her fixedly.

The hatred in his eyes was no longer concealed.

Yet, once the Soul-Locking Shackles were fastened, he could not even muster his soul power.

No matter how much he hated her, he could only be held down.

Xiao Wu watched this scene, and the pent-up anger in her chest finally dissipated by more than half.

"Serves you right."

No sooner had she finished cursing than a legal Deacon from the side suddenly rushed in.

"My Lord!"

"Someone was discovered attempting to scale the wall and escape from the West Warehouse!"

"We have already seized one vehicle, but another low-canopy carriage is missing!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the back hall tightened once more.

Xu Tinglan's expression changed instantly.

"Impossible, the West Warehouse has already been sealed—"

"Only the main gate was sealed."

Su Chen looked at the stack of loose papers on the ground, his gaze sinking in an instant.

"They left a second line."

Shen Zhi's expression also darkened.

"There are others being sent out?"

"More than that."

Xu Tinglan crouched down and flipped through one of the thin booklets, her fingers quickly stopping on two lines of ink.

"Transferring out tonight, three carriages."

"We intercepted one, captured one, and the remaining one..."

She did not continue.

Because everyone understood.

There was still one more.

Still on the road.

Xiao Wu's eyes turned cold in an instant.

"Children again?"

Xu Tinglan pressed her lips together and nodded.

Xiao Wu had been ready to catch her breath, but at these words, her rage flared up again.

"They are truly animals."

She turned to look at Su Chen.

"Are we still pursuing?"

Su Chen looked at those two lines of text on the ground, his eyes as sharp as blades.

"Pursue."

"We pursue now."

Shen Zhi immediately turned around.

"I will go mobilize the men—"

"No need for a large squad."

Su Chen spoke directly.

"Too many people will only slow us down."

"You stay here and continue to seal the branch hall. Steward Luo, Lu Ming, Han Su—interrogate them all separately."

"Xu Tinglan, you come with me."

"You are the most familiar with their transit routes."

"Xiao Wu."

Xiao Wu immediately looked up.

"Present."

"Follow."

Only two words.

The flicker of fire and chaotic heat in her chest twisted into a single surge of strength.

"Okay."

She answered extremely quickly.

Su Chen turned and walked out. After two steps, he suddenly looked back at Han Su, who was being held down on the ground.

"Right."

"Didn't you just ask me what right I have?"

Han Su looked up, his face as ghastly as a dead man's.

Su Chen's eyes were cold, devoid of any warmth.

"Just because tonight, I am the one standing here."

"While you, you only deserve to crawl."

With those words, he had already rushed out of the back hall with Xiao Wu and Xu Tinglan.

The night wind struck their faces.

The lights and footsteps outside the branch hall were in complete chaos.

A light carriage had already been brought to the bottom of the steps by the men from the Legal Department.

Xiao Wu was just about to climb up on her own when she exerted force in her knees; the soreness and numbness from the daytime arena and the night's continuous battles surged up, and her legs suddenly went weak.

She cursed under her breath, and just as she was about to grit her teeth and push through, she felt a warmth on her waist.

Su Chen had already hoisted her up.

"You—"

"Get in the carriage."

"I can do it my—"

"Stop being stubborn."

Su Chen half-carried, half-lifted her into the carriage, then climbed in after her.

Xiao Wu had intended to glare at him, but as the carriage curtain fell and the lights outside were cut off, the carriage was suddenly left with only the sound of their breathing and an excessively close warmth.

Her bit of anger dissipated all at once.

She could only grit her teeth and mutter a low curse.

"Just you wait until we get back."

Su Chen settled in and instinctively shielded her toward the carriage wall to prevent her from bumping into anything when they started moving.

"We'll talk when we get back."

Xu Tinglan sat on the driver's bench and flicked the reins.

The light carriage charged out of the branch hall.

The nightscape of Suotuo City was left behind by the spinning wheels.